跨国代孕案件中德国法院承认外国判决的变迁与启示

Vicissitude and Illumination of the Recognition of Foreign Judgments by German Courts in Transnational Surrogacy Cases

德国法院在跨国代孕案件中承认外国亲子关系判决可以归纳为4个阶段:2013年之前拒绝承认的保守阶段、2013—2014年有条件承认的突破阶段、2015—2019年司法机关内部突破与冲突的共存阶段、2020年之后全面承认的成熟阶段。经过十余年的发展,德国法院形成了一套成熟的承认外国亲子关系判决的司法规则。公共政策方面,德国《家事事件和非讼事件程序法》第109条第1款确立的公共政策逐渐被限缩解释并审慎适用。具体而言,一是国内法禁止代孕的规定和亲子关系认定规则不再被认定为实质性公共政策,二是跨国代孕并不一定与德国法律的基本思想和司法观念相矛盾。相反,以违反公共政策为由拒绝承认外国判决,可能会因有悖于儿童最大利益原则而违反德国公共政策。儿童最大利益方面,德国法院保障跨国代孕儿童处于稳定的家庭关系中,不仅履行了国家保护义务,也符合欧洲人权法院的先例和德国承担的国际条约义务。生物学标准方面,德国法院对分娩标准的弱化和对基因标准的放弃,充分展现了德国法院对欧洲人权法院司法经验本土化的创新路径。总而言之,德国法院充分利用国际私法的灵活性处理复杂的涉外民事法律关系,通过对公共政策的限缩解释和对儿童最大利益的扩张解释,在国内法禁止代孕的情况下,妥善解决了跨国代孕亲子关系的承认问题,实现了保护儿童最大利益的司法目的。

The recognition of foreign paternity judgments by German courts in transnational surrogacy cases can be summarized in four phases:the conservative phase of refusing to recognize foreign judgments until 2013,the breakthrough phase of conditionally starting to recognize paternity judgments from 2013 to 2014,the chaotic phase of coexisting breakthroughs and conflicts in judicial system from 2015 to 2019,and the mature phase of fully recognizing of foreign judgments after 2020.After a decade of development,German courts have formed a mature set of judicial rules for recognizing foreign paternity judgments,and have made breakthroughs in public policy provisions,the best interest of children,and biological standards.In terms of public policy,the public policy established in Article 109 of Law of Proceedings in Family Matters and in Matters of Non-Contentious Jurisdiction(Gesetz über das Verfahren in Familiensachen und in den Angelegenheiten der freiwilligen Gerichtsbarkeit) has been gradually interpreted restrictively and applied prudently.With regard to the principle of the best interest of children,by guaranteeing a transnational surrogate child a stable family relationship,German courts not only fulfill the State's obligation to protect(Schutzpflichten),but are also in line with the precedents of European Court of Human Rights and the international treaty obligations entered into by Germany.With regard to the biological standard,it is mainly reflected in the weakening of the childbirth standard and the genetic standard from establishment to weakening to abandonment,which fully demonstrates the innovative path of the German courts in localizing the judgment from the European Court of Human Rights.